Playing Doctor
by Grinning Grimly
Summary: Artemis gets left behind. With a broken ankle. Can she fix it? No she can't. But she can damn well try.
1. No Fear

**Artemis **

She had been in the cell for over a week. The dark little room with its dirt walls seemed to loom over her, leaching the last bit of warmth from her curled up figure. It was a living hell, but worse; at least hell was warm. The archer hadn't been able to feel her legs for some time, and she had stopped trying to keep the circulation going in her arms, it took to much energy. Only her stomach still seemed alert, twisting inside her demanding food that would never come. With her eyes scrunched closed (it was pitch black anyway) she went over what had put her in this hellhole.

"_It's a simple recon mission, get in, take the pictures and report back here."_ Batman had given them the mission, more of a training exercise really; it had turned out to be anything but.

Not even M'gan had sensed that the league of Shadows was running the operation until it was too late. Artemis had been arguing telepathically with Wally when the screams started. The link had been broken, or more like ripped to shreds leaving her mind reeling in pain. The smoke bombs came next, not the kind Robin used for cover; ones that poisoned the air, even as it forced itself down her throat. Artemis had been stumbling toward Superboy when the needle was jammed into her arm. She went down instantly, paralyzed but fully aware of her teammates going down with needles sticking out of their arms. And the smoke thickened, making her eyes burn and her lungs scream for air. It wasn't the smoke or the drugs that knocked her out though, but a boot that had slammed into her face, probably giving her a concussion.

Her head throbbed even now, but it was probably more from the lack of sleep than anything else. It was the one thing she had control over, and she refused to give it up. The determination wasn't what kept her awake though, it was the fear of not waking up. So she stayed, lying on the unforgiving ground and pretended as she had when she was a kid and bad things happened (she had lots of practice). She imagined that the mission was a success and they were all back at the cave, eating dinner M'gan had made and Wally arguing with her. There was no cold, or cell, or hunger, and most of all; there was no fear.

**Wally **

The first thing he felt was a cold metal slab beneath him. Slowly regaining consciousness he found himself in the bio ship, separated from the rest of the team by a thing filmy veil. Miss Martian must have sensed he was awake because Kaldur walked in a moment later. The look in his eyes said it all.

"Who-"he hesitated but knew he needed to know. "Who did we leave behind?" The Atlatian didn't even have to say it out loud, he already knew. Everything became blurred as his mind narrowed down to one thought, she was gone, and he would find her.

The thought was circulating in his mind as he leapt off the table and sped past his teammates. Bursting through the outer layer of the bio ship he hit the ground running. He would go back for the one left behind, but not just anyone, Artemis.

**Artemis**

No one had entered the room. There had been no interrogation, no threats, not even a gloating face to direct all her anger at. It wasn't the usual MO of most criminals. Which lead her to the conclusion that this wasn't about gaining info, it was some higher agenda, and she was the lowly bait that would set it all in motion. And that pissed her off. Who the hell were they to just assume that she was going to be some lame ass pawn in their grand scheme for world domination or whatever? She would get out and kick the freaking crap out of them, and be waiting when the rest of the league finally showed up. The thought of Wally's shocked face when he figured out it was her that had saved the day would be priceless.

She rolled onto her stomach and the pushed herself up onto her knees. Taking a deep breath she leaped up. Then fell right back down screaming explicates. The bastards had broken her goddamn ankle. And it hurt like a bitch. Gingerly lifting her leg up to examine she saw her boot was soaked with blood, and a faint sloshing sound came from inside when she set her foot back down. Her boot was probably the only thing keeping her bones within her skin. Pulling off her left boot she pressed the heel and grabbed the knife that slid out. Cutting off her mask (they already knew who she was or they would have bothered to take it off) she twisted a section and put it in between her teeth. A deep breath wasn't going to help now, so she sliced into her right boot with no hesitation. The knife was sharp and cut through the material easily, revealing the source of her problem. To say her ankle was broken would be an understatement. It didn't even look like a body part. The bits of skin that remained were purpling and covered in dried blood, making it look almost like black scales. But what drew her attention were her bones. Even with all the blood they were white, broken and poking through her leg, but white. Switching into assassin mode she assessed the damage before continuing to cut. This is where it began to _hurt_. But the assassin took it as a good sign; it meant the nerves were still intact, that her foot still had a chance of being repaired and useful. Removing the remains of her boot she used the knife to split the shoelace open, and grabbed the needle (it was meant to be used to pick locks). Holding it in one had she reached back and ripped several strands of hair from her head. It took her a few tries but she managed to thread it through the handle of the needle and balanced it on her knee. Squinting in the weak light she brought her head as close as she could to her injured ankle, trying to recall the diagrams of the human skeletal structure. Grinding her teeth into the cloth in her mouth she used to fingers to push the first shard back in. There wasn't any pain. Just a flash of light and then she blacked out.


	2. Worth It

**Wally**

He had been running for hours. But to him it could have been seconds. Every nerve in his body was screaming at him to hurry, go faster, to _run_. Every breath brought with it the bitterly cold air that only added to his speed. But it wasn't enough. It would never be enough, not till she was safe and he could hold her and never let anything hurt her again, ever. He should have been burning up from running so much, but his feet were oddly cold. The only feeling he had in them was the steady contact with the frozen ground. Now and again his stomach would growl, momentarily distracting him but the thought of Artemis drove it out of his mind. He couldn't picture a situation where she wasn't okay, because Artemis was always okay. Nothing could hold her down. A mental picture of her sitting on top of a pile of bad guys waiting for him brought a small smile to his face before thoughts of her not being there waiting invaded his mind. Thoughts of her beaten and bloodied, trapped and chained, her long hair tangled and dirty. But that wasn't his Artemis, the one he knew was strong and a fighter. Sometimes he was the one she was fighting, but he didn't mind. He secretly enjoyed the verbal battles, reveling in the way he made her eyes shine when they got into a particularly passionate argument. How they nearly always found themselves inclined toward each other, trying to prove a point. It was then that he usually lost, forgetting the next point he was about to make, to distracted by how he could feel her breath on his cheek or the way she smelled. He would mumble incoherently and then she would lean back, smirking and calling him Baywatch or Kid Something; and he wanted to call her a cheater. But then she would want to know just exactly how he thought she was cheating, and then probably injure him in a very physical and painful way. He smiled again, a warmth that had nothing to do with running was spreading through his chest, helping him go faster. He bent his head against the wind, green eyes watching the white ground flash by. But his mind's eye was seeing a certain archer invading his personal space.

**Artemis**

When she woke up she was still in the dirt room. Hoisting herself into a sitting position then squeezed her eyes shut at the resulting vertigo. Letting out an unsteady breath she eased her eyes open and slowly looked down at her foot. The bone she had attempted to push back into her leg before she blacked out was at a haphazard angle. Judging from the pool of fresh blood surrounding her injury she hadn't been out for long, maybe thirty minutes. Squinting towards to door (she assumed it was the door, from where she was it was more a dark alcove) she studied the dirt near it. Based on the fact that there were no footprints or other impressions in it no one was watching her. This only reinforced her theory that she was a bargaining piece, and an important one at that. Either the deal hadn't gone through, or they didn't intend to give her back alive. She would have liked to think Ollie would fight for her, but she had to admit it wasn't logical to risk the lives of League members or that of her teammates for one sidekick. So that meant it was up to her to escape. She decided to focus on that. It gave her mind something to do, other than count how much time she had before infection, dehydration, or plain old blood loss did her in. Shaking off the grim thoughts she made a mental list. There were no guards to gather intel from, faking serious injury wasn't going to do anything, and anything requiring running or moving of any kind was not an option. She estimated her time in the cell to be at least a day, probably more. Meaning that there had to be air flow from somewhere, that or she was going to run out of oxygen in the next hour or so. She needed to search the area for cameras, and possible ventilation systems. That meant taking care of her ankle, or at least keeping her bones from falling out of her leg. Absentmindedly she wondered if that was even possible, and if so, how painful it would be to pull them out. Using the knife she cut a length of material from her discarded boot measuring roughly to be the same distance from her ankle to her knee. Wiping the blade as best she could against her shirt she tilted her head towards her right leg. Starting about halfway down her leg she slid the knife into her leg, letting out a stained breath as she dragged it down. Cutting until she reached where her ankle had been opened she removed the knife, making sure to keep it out of the dirt. Moving her leg slowly she rested it on top of her other knee to keep the bleeding to a minimum. She felt for the needle, all the while eyeing her exposed bones with a sort of fascinated terror. Finding the needle she slowly extended her knee, so that the inside of her injured leg was easier to access. Preparing herself for the coming pain she again pushed against the bone, and nearly screamed at the sheer agony. But she got it back in, thanks to the cut she had made. Quickly grabbing the needle she began to sow the incision closed. It was a skill she had learned from her sister, who had insisted that she know how to patch herself up. She hadn't known why it was so important, but when Jade had left, their father had started to train her, and she had figured it out fast.

**Wally**

He was getting close. Up ahead was the cement compound they had been sent to investigate. It looked small, but there were multiple levels that spanned out to where he was now. The only entrance (that they could find) was through the front doors, so he sped up and hit them with everything he had. Which at nearly 200 miles an hour was a lot, and he burst into the compound. Ignoring the blaring alarms and shouts he barreled past the guards and went for the door marked stairs. She would probably be in one of the lower levels so he planned to start on the ground floor and work his way up. If he couldn't find her he would grab a guard and make them tell him where she was. Right now all he wanted to do was find her, make sure she was alright, and get her out. Kicking the door open he was faced with a hallway going off in both directions that seemed to go on forever. Choosing at random he shot off down the left hall. There weren't very many doors, at one point he passed a large hanger and what he assumed was a weapons room. The hallway split and he went left again, but was faced with a dead end. Cursing he spun around and went back to the intersection, and turning right.

"Stop or we'll shoot!" Yelled a voice from behind him. But he didn't have time to turn around and deal with hired guns, he had to find Artemis. It was harder to run when he had to weave back and forth, but he wouldn't be any use to her if he was shot, plus it would her when he tried to heal around the bullet. Soon he rounded a curve and the bullets bounced harmlessly off the far wall. But Wally didn't notice, all his attention was zeroed in on the dark splotches on the ground. It looked like blood. It was blood, _her _blood. He was sure of it. He threw his shoulder into the door where the trail ended several times before it opened. No one was there, but there was a larger pile of blood and what looked like one of her boots. Hearing a grunt he turned and ducked just in time as a knife lodged itself in the wall, right where his head had been half a second ago. Whipping around he saw her, leaning against the wall her hand still raised from throwing the knife at him. He couldn't help but grin when he saw her eyes widen in recognition.

"Holy shit! KF, what the hell are you doing here? You need to get out of here! Are you hearing me?"

He had been in a daze, all the anxiety and anger he felt was gone now that he knew she was alright. Then he saw her leg. And the anger was back.

"What the hell happened to your leg? What did they do to you? Is it infected? How bad is it?" His heart was beating a million times a minute as he waited for her to answer, those bastards would pay for hurting her. He suddenly wanted to punch someone repeatedly, and also maybe kick them, hard.

"It's nothing, but you need to get out of here! The League of Shadows-"

"It's not nothing! God Artemis your foot looks like it's about to fall off your goddamn leg!" In the back of his mind he knew this was not the appropriate time to be arguing with her, but he had to make her see that she needed his help. So when he ran over and scooped her up he was not expecting to get a right hook in the face. He was momentarily dazed and reached up to gingerly touch his cheek. "Ow! Jesus Artemis, what the hell?"

"You need to leave; you can't let them catch you to! It's no worth it! Get out of here KF, no one asked you to come rescue me! I was doing fine!" At some point she had started crying. The tears cleared the dirt and blood that covered her face revealing bruised skin. He felt like she had punched him in the gut. He had made her _cry_. Artemis, who never ever cried was nearly sobbing. "Wally! Listen to me! Why won't you listen? Wally!"

He snapped out of it. She had called him Wally, she never did that on missions, she was too professional. He met her eyes, they glistened with more tears, but behind that there was fear. Then it all snapped into place, she didn't think she was worth rescuing. She didn't think that anyone would come for her, like all the time she had spent with the team, with him, didn't make her important.

**Artemis**

_Why wasn't he listening to her? _He was just standing there with a sort if amazed look on his face.She considered hitting him again, but it hadn't worked the last time.

"Artemis, I am not leaving without you, so shut up and let me get us out of here!" Even as he said it he was pulling her up into his arms. She was too surprised to protest as he sped out of the room. He seemed to know where they were going; he didn't even slow down as they rounded a corner and saw some guards. He kicked open a door and suddenly they were running up stairs. She looked up at him, his jaw was clenched and his eyes were focused straight ahead. He looked so different from how he usually did, almost…. Attractive? No, it was Wally; she was probably just hallucinating from blood loss. Now that she thought about it, she did feel a little lightheaded, but she was safe, so it would be alright if she took a little nap. Sighing she nestled her head against his chest, and fell unconscious listening to the rapid beat of his heart.


	3. Snapped and Broken

**Wally**

It wasn't until they were out of the compound and racing through the thick foliage of the jungle that he noticed she was unconscious. At first it had scared the hell out of him. He wasn't sure why she had passed out; it could be from the sheer awesomeness of his rescue (though he admitted it probably wasn't that) or blood loss. Which would mean her body was shutting down. Which would mean she could die. The idea of Artemis dying made him want to throw up, already the sick feeling of life without her was invading his body; his thoughts racing ahead to dismal futures without her.

He shook his head, refusing to think like that, Artemis was still breathing and when she woke up she would kick his ass for thinking she wouldn't. If she woke up. No! He had to focus! He would put some distance between them and the guards that were undoubtedly coming after them and then he would check her out. Over. He meant he would check her over, for other injuries. He did not think of Artemis like that, especially when they were running for their lives, well he was running for both of them. She was in his arms, her face borrowing into his chest seeming to find comfort in his heartbeat. The thought made in absurdly happy, and gave him a boost of energy. He hadn't had anything to eat in over 24 hours. He was already running on fumes before he got knocked out and Artemis had been captured, now he was running on…. Whatever was less than fumes? But somehow it didn't matter, he kept going and his grumbling stomach didn't even register.

The only thing that had him worried was how shallow Atemis's breathing had become. He slowed down to a walk (which for him was still 10 miles an hour) and listened for any sounds of pursuit. There were only the sounds of the jungle, his heartbeat bounding in his ears, and Artemis. Her low moans caused him to look down and notice she was coming to.

**Artemis**

She was warm. It was the first thing she noticed, even before she opened her eyes. And then the warmth spoke.

"Artemis?" He sounded so hopeful, so unsure. She wanted to look him in the eyes and tell him that it was going to be alright, that she was alright. But all she could let out was a moan. This pissed her off, what the hell was she doing? She wasn't some damsel in distress that fainted when she broke a nail (or an ankle but that was beside the point) she was a kick ass vigilante archer who put the fear of god into full grown men. Taking a breath she forced her eyes open.

Her vision was a bit blurry, but as everything came into focus a pair of concerned green eyes peered down at her. She jerked back on instinct causing everything to slip out of focus once again for a moment. Without breaking eye contact she assessed their surroundings with her peripheral vision, and seeing that they appeared safe for the moment attempted to stand up.

"Whoa! Slow down Artemis, here one sec I'll put you down over there." This did nothing to stop her from trying again, almost rolling out of his arms. "Seriously, hold on! Your ankle has a nasty break and I don't want you putting any weight on it! Quit being so stubborn or you'll make it worse!"

"I'm fine Baywatch, just set me down and I'll finish stitching myself up!" She winced as she said this, her throat felt cracked and raw. Probably from being locked up without water and performing a painful patch up job (but she had only screamed a few times, the rest was from yelling explicates at Wally). She tried to shrug his hands off as he set her down against the base of a tree and helped her lean back.

"Look I'm not going to let you 'stich' yourself up! What the hell were you even using as thread? Whatever it was there is no way it was sterile, so you probably have an infection! In the middle of the goddamn jungle! Do you understand? So just shut up and let me fix it!" His chest was heaving after his impassioned rant and Artemis couldn't help but notice how muscular it looked in his tight stealth uniform.

"My hair is plenty sterile! I shower, unlike you if your smell is any indicator! And I would already be done if I hadn't had to throw my knife at your damn head in your lame ass attempt to 'rescue' me! So unless you have a first aid kit hidden in your spandex just leave me the hell alone!" She knew that they should be quiet and not draw the attention of wild animals, or the guards that were most likely tracking them; but something about him pissed her off. He didn't need to worry about her; she was plenty tough; she put her freaking bones back in her leg! Why couldn't he go be a hero somewhere else?

"You used your _hair_? What kind of a person does that? And stitching yourself up with a knife? Of course you would think that was a good idea! And what do you mean you had to throw the knife at my head? You are so freaking lucky your aim sucks because you would have been in deep shit if you killed me!" He was pissing her off with all his shit. But when he accused her of bad aim she snapped. And so did his nose when she punched him. He fell back clutching his nose and cussing so fast she only caught every other word. After a minute or two he stood up, glaring at her over his had that still covered his nose. "I'm going to go find water, I'll be back soon."

She felt a bit bad when she heard the grunt of pain as he reset his nose, maybe she had gone a bit overboard. He was only trying to help, and he did come back for her when no one else did. But something about him made her blood boil. Speaking of blood hers was still leaking out of her leg. She had only stitched up half before Wally came rushing in to play rescuer. Shaking all thoughts of the speedster out of her head she yanked another hair out of her head, slipped a spare knife out of her hair tie, and started sewing.

**Wally**

He was so pissed. His nose was probably broken, his feet hurt, he was freaking starving, and it was all that blonde harpies fault. Glaring balefully over his shoulder he didn't see the pond until he stepped into it. Of freaking course. Crouching down on the bank he squinted into the water trying to assess the damage done to his nose. But due to the fact that it was night he couldn't see shit. Gingerly he reached up and felt around the swollen area, flinching and swearing a bit while he determined if it was broken or not.

(I've never had a broken nose before so here goes my best guess, err, educated guess at what it would feel like to try and reset one. In the dark. In a jungle. Without looking. Wish me luck)

The pain was tolerable until he pinched a particularly swollen area and felt like he had been shot.

"Son of a bitch! Damn it Artemis you just had to hit me didn't you?" His angry rant was somewhat rendered ineffective by the nasally sound of his voice. Taking a calming breath he counted to seven in his head (it was his lucky number and counting to three was so unoriginal) and jerked the bottom section back to meet the rest of his nose. This brought on a whole new round of explicates that were quite colorful and long winded.

Still holding his nose together he slowly reached down into the pond and brought a handful of water to his lips. It wasn't five cartons of chocolate ice cream but he did feel slightly refreshed. Then the guilt of leaving Artemis alone and injured. Scrunching up his nose he crossed his eyes trying to see if he had set it straight. (I'm assuming since he has a super-fast metabolism that he heals quickly as well, even though he doesn't in the TV show, it just makes my life easier) It didn't hurt anymore so he figured it was good enough and sped back towards where he had left Artemis.

**I just wanted to say thank you to all my readers who came back, I didn't post for months and you still came back to me, you are better than bacon. To Spiro911 thank you for kicking me back into motion. If anyone has any ideas for how to write a romance scene or some fluff between Artemis and Wally I would be grateful. And for anyone who knows when the new season of Young Justice comes out please let me know!**


End file.
